Riyadh Air starts full public sale of flights to Heathrow

Saudi Arabia’s new flag carrier Riyadh Air will begin full-service flights to London Heathrow from Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on July 1.

Ticket sales started on May 19, the airline said in a statement on Tuesday. Prices range from SAR1,101 ($293) for economy to SAR12,500 for business class for the inaugural flight, according to the airline’s website.

Riyadh Air, wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s $1 trillion Public Investment Fund, will operate its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners on the route. It placed a multi-billion-dollar order for up to 72 of the aircraft in March 2023 and launched cargo operations to Heathrow in January this year.

As part of the carrier’s technical readiness programme, it has been operating flights on a limited basis to Heathrow Terminal 4 since October 26, 2025, using its single existing Dreamliner.

Tony Douglas, CEO of Riyadh Air, said the airline would connect Saudi Arabia directly to the UK and beyond through its growing network of destinations, including Jeddah, Cairo and Dubai.

The Riyadh-London route is a cornerstone of the airline’s UK expansion, linking two G20 capital cities, he added.

Riyadh Air aims to offer more than 100 destinations by 2030. The PIF predicts that the airline will contribute $20 billion to Saudi Arabia’s non-oil GDP and support more than 200,000 jobs globally.

The new Saudi carrier has continued its global recruitment drive and has already received more than 2 million job applications, AGBI reported earlier this month.

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